Two Lives Compact To One
by crimsonstripe
Summary: Au.SasuxSaku.HinaxNaru. Just another romantic story filled with quirky lines, cynical humor, and characters that belong to Masashi Kishimoto.


_Author's Note: So this story is purely fictional, bits and pieces of it contain some relevance to my personal life however all events depicted are fictional. I don't own any of the characters mentioned and all rights belong to the creator, Masashi Kishimoto. AU. . I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think (:_

Two Lives Compact to One

Sakura

Looking back on my life now, I've realized how truly fortunate I am. There are a few important things to understand about me: My family and I have never had a close relationship, there was a lot of arguing and conflicts had arisen as I grew out of my teenage years. The only family support I have has come from my older brother, Hiroki. I am now currently 21 years old and living the good life in New York. I'm working on getting my bachelor's degree at Julliard, but at the moment I am your typical poor and starving free-lance artist in a crummy apartment.

However, aside from being poor and hungry I'm fairly content with how the course of my life has played out so far. I have just moved into my sad little apartment in the wonderful city of New York with my loving boyfriend and best friend, Sasuke. We've been through our ups and downs and as cliché as it sounds; our relationship has stood up against the test of time. I love who I'm with, love what I do, and loving where I am.

Sasuke and I have known each other since we were in High School in the village of Konoha in Japan. We both came from military families and are complete opposites that attract. Sasuke is an interesting character to say the least; he is a DJ part-time and works as an assistant manager for a telephone company within the city limits. Our height difference is quite comical, he is 6'0ft and I am a whopping 5'2 inches. He has raven dark hair that has this weird way of sticking up in the end with locks framing his face. He has a very strong personality, and isn't afraid to voice his opinions. I'm more of a reserved and quite person, but I'm also very hard-headed and stubborn. He has been very supportive of me and my dreams and helps me out as best as he can when he isn't available to help me in person.

Hinata

I feel like I am someone no one can relate to honestly. I try my hardest to impress everyone and always tend to drop anything for anyone, especially my love. Always trying my hardest to fix all the mess I have made since the day I moved out when I was 16. I dropped out of school and left my horrid family without so much as a look back. I was born and raised in New York and am currently moving back to support my teenage sister who is pregnant. My sister, Hanabi, has been writing me for about three years now since she found out about my whereabouts from an old friend of mine. Without a father for my sister's baby I had to come back home from L.A with my fiancé to come and help her support the baby. I am only worried about seeing my parents after 7 years.

My fiancé and I were close in our relationship four years ago when we had first met. It's been a long time since we've been engaged because we don't have much money to throw a wedding so we came to New York we had to find the cheapest apartment on the cheapest side of town. We have been currently on different pages from one another and I'm scared to say it won't work but stubborn as I am, I won't ever leave and he has grown to know that. Being to himself has had me wonder for years because he was fine with moving with me to New York but he put up a fight right before moving. I will always have my guard up with him now and I have no idea where it will lead.

Coming back home to New York, the hell that I lived most of my life in, I have wondered if my family has completely forgot about me. I know my sister hasn't of course, but I know my parents will shut me out s soon as I come to their door. My fiancé told me to not go near my family and not tell them that I am back, so I told my sister to meet at coffee shops I remembered back when I lived here.  
I have no idea what I'm going to do once I am settled here. I don't know if I will stay for long or just move back to L.A., all I know is I hate this dreadful city and nothing can compare to the life I had growing up.

Chapter One

Ding. Ding. Ding.

The numbers slowly highlighted and passed as the petite woman inside the elevator waited impatiently to get onto the floor of her apartment. Sakura had reached her destination and crossed over into the threshold of her uncomfortably small and crummy apartment. She dumped the items she had carried with her from her walk home from Julliard onto the stool next to the apartment door.

The interior of the apartment was fairly simple; a pale cream color decorated the walls and the room was sparse in furniture. Two small couches, a coffee table, and a small TV sat in what was the living room and to the right of the furniture was a small kitchenette, past the kitchenette, down the hall were two bedrooms. One was the master bedroom and the other room was a studio where all the fantastic "masterpieces" were created.

Inside the studio hung numerous paintings of various sizes; some were realistic portraits of people and still life's, some were large scenes of nature and abstract paintings on canvas. The room was filled with items and described Sakura's personality perfectly. Laying on the easel was a painting in progress of Sakura and Sasuke, the mood captured was innocent and sincere as the two were seen in a simple embrace and laughing.

Sakura ruffled her long pink tresses and walked to the bathroom in the master bedroom and washed up to get ready to make dinner for herself. As she started pulling a few pans out from the cupboards she heard loud shouting coming from the apartment down the hall from her.

"What the hell is THIS? How long have you been talking with her?! You honestly thing I wouldn't have found out about this!" The screaming began to turn into a low murmured cry and voices could be heard again.

"Honestly, I've known about this for about three months. Before we left L.A. I just wanted us to be farther away from her. Then you go and tell her you will wait for her."

Sakura was trying her hardest to ignore the commotion going on outside her apartment door. She heard a slam of a door and goes outside to check what happened. Seeing a man with spiky blonde hair, standing outside trying to have a conversation with someone through the door, Sakura hesitates about walking over and decides against it and minds her own business.

20 minutes had passed when Sakura heard the door slam again. Frustrated from all the noise going on outside, she proceeds to step out and notices a young girl, around the age of 23, quietly crying and taking an occasional sip of vodka from the bottle on her lap.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. He was the only good thing I had left." She takes another sip of vodka but is not able to hold it down and begins to bawl into her lap.

Sakura looked around, checked to see if she was talking to someone else and realized that they were the only two people in the hall.

"Oh, umm….well do you want to talk about it? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I've been told I'm a good listener and if you want to vent I'm all ears."

"How is someone like you going to be able to help me? You don't know what I have been through." She looks at Sakura as if she were an annoyance, but also as some kind of savior. "I have lived my life as a runaway since I was sixteen. I really don't need someone here for me now." She tries to get up but falls back to the ground and tries to hold herself up from the yellowish wall next to her. She pushed her raven dark hair away from her face and her pale violet eyes stayed transfixed on the stranger in front of her.

"Well, if you happen to change your mind my apartment door is right down the hall, room 224. If you'd life, you can come over for dinner. My boyfriend is working late tonight so I'm just hanging out by myself."

The woman on the floor attempted to stand, swaying and struggling to keep balanced. "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't know me at all and I'm pretty sure you heard the fight I had with my fiancé. Why help?" She finally is able to keep herself upright. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga, I just moved here and honestly, I don't know anyone here so now I have no clue what to do." She felt slightly guilty for lying to the woman who has been kind to her but forces herself to keep eye contact.

"Well if you ever need someone to talk to or show you around, you know where to find me. My name is Sakura Haruno, let me know if you happen to change your mind. " With that Sakura proceeded to walk away in the direction of her apartment.

"No wait. I don't want to be alone tonight and I don't want to call my fiancé to come back in one night, that seems kind of desperate, don't you think?" She said pleading and taking another sip of vodka as she walks closer to Sakura. "Please let me stay with you tonight, I have no space in my apartment because of all the moving boxes."

Sakura looked at Hinata closely and decided she was sincere. "Sure, like I said you're welcome to come over. Walk with me, talk with me, let's get to know each other better."


End file.
